healthy weight loss Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Thanksgiving Quote For Happiness

Thanksgiving is a universal reminder time of thanks. One way that often takes a back seat is to love ourselves.

That way, we have more room to give love and pass on the abundance to family, neighbors, and others on our journey path.

Loving ourselves means forgiving ourselves and others, like God forgave us. We want to feel grateful.

If you’re stuck, maybe ask: what am I hung up on that I don’t have?

Because we have so much more to be grateful for than what we don’t have.

Our brains easily fool us into focusing on the wrong and negative things.

And part of what we don’t have that we think we want right now is going to be what gives us a better future.

Because life is rigged in our favor in our belief and faith.

This isn’t something we’re born with knowing, but over time and experience you grow wiser and the knowing inside you becomes more clear.

Daily thought choices determine our future view of ourselves, our lives, success, and happiness.

Thanksgiving quote:

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” – Deepak Chopra

Even though none of us know the future outcomes no matter what age we are.

But the answers are inside us waiting for the ripe-ready reveal time to birth.

That’s a spiritual way to look at it and how I see it from my reflecting back lens of life experiences. I didn’t see that back in my 30s (so don’t worry if you think you’re a late bloomer).

It’s a gradual shift like time.

And over time, you can realize nothing in your past was wasted. The hard things you went through made it easier for you now or in the future. And the dumb things done (we all have them!) made you smarter now.

It’s in our future where we get new revelations.

And most of our answers to our life’s purposes are already inside us.

We first have to grow up, learn to change our auto-responses, and heal from our past hurts that will help us.

…That’s how this one Life we get to live keeps getting better, and our perspectives change because we allow them to with our open curiosity.

The famous saying is that this (as in life) is not a dress rehearsal.

But for those of us who believe in Heaven, it is.

We’re here for experiences and growth.

And as we gather more experiences, we learn and grow. That’s the purpose of this life as I believe. And we do that by ourselves and with others.

And if you want to make this a new season different than past ones, then dig deeper in the well for your answers.

They’re there! 🎯

You only stay stuck when you box yourself in… I remember years ago where I spent a couple Thanksgivings abroad. It’s always a weird feeling because that special Thursday is only celebrated in America.

Initially I felt I was missing out. But then, it made me realize I could be thankful anywhere I was.

Thanksgiving holiday is not about the food… entirely (as I’m from the foodie world 🥘). But getting away from the holiday food traditions helped me to break out of the “this is how it is.”

And that breaking out allowed for embracing growth in future seasons. And not just for new situations, but also a new hopeful attitude.

I found early-on in my journey that my ego blocked these types of beliefs in my auto-thoughts. And I allowed it to because I didn’t know any better.

The brain would serve up the woes-me thoughts for what I didn’t have and wanted.

Part of the process and journey was learning this unhelpful built-in ego feature as a first step.

I wish it didn’t take me beyond 35 years to learn, but I’m glad it didn’t take another 35 years (or never) 😉

And breaking through, when I could tap into my deeper compassionate and feeling sides, that’s when I got more breakthroughs.

…I was less judgmental about myself and more forgiving that projected out to the world… to judge less and forgive more.

Imagine if that radiating energy caught on in most of us. It would be one big ball of massive fire in the world! ☄️ We could use that energy to help and grow our world filled with challenges.

But starting with ourselves is the first and most important place to begin, and keep daily renewing…

Breaking down self-judgment walls and bringing back self-love keeps us growing.

…It helps you and me see better.

Especially if you didn’t feel the love when you were younger or in your more recent situational past.

…When I felt the self-pity from setbacks in life, I bounced back by finding my gratitude and giving spirit (thanksgiving)

Giving can be sharing, donating time or money, providing, spending time, encouraging words, and sending positive loving vibes to the world. 💕

It can be as simple as recognizing that it’s not all about you or me.

It can be about paying forward gratitude for the blessed things I already have or experiences I had.

Getting sensitized and feeling again knocked me out of gray confusion clouds and into sunnier skies.

We are meant to keep growing forward in life so we don’t put ourselves back in the shoes of our former selves. Been there done that.

In today’s moments, we can acknowledge that we’re in a better place by finding examples from our past.

Comparing our new level today with our past level gets us to our next better level of tomorrow.

Proof of this is easy to find for all of us…

If you go waaayyy back to the past as kids (or young adults we were called) that none of us are anymore… back then, we were more impressionable as our younger selves.

We had to get everything okay’d before proceeding as how culture and life is setup.

As pre-adults, we didn’t have the means to do the things we can do today on our own.

And if we did do them then, we’d probably have gotten lost and would be ungrateful as we didn’t fully understand what we had in front of us.

We were still developing our adult minds.

Today as found former-lost baby sheep, we have wiser perspectives to draw from. 🐑

Congratulating our growth is one small step and happy way we can be thankful for this season in life even if it doesn’t look anything like we hoped for!

The focal point sign that we can dwell on is “you’re here”… and it’s years later and you no longer have the same problems you had back there.

So you could come up with a list of what you’ve arrived at today.

Imagine if you had the same challenges and choices you had as a young adult, you’d be so frustrated because you’re no longer with that same mindset. But you’re not there, so that’s one thing you can be thankful for.

And those little thanks help you to embrace where you imperfectly are.

We’re still and always will be dynamic works-in-progress.

Thankfully so because that means we’re alive! 🤸🏻

And collecting up all those fond past memories that you can re-live in present moment happiness helps to keep us rejuvenated.

Then in the tough times (the ones that so blind-shockingly happened), those help grow us into better people.

We become more deeply grateful for what we have… maybe not immediately, but we end up developing stronger character in survival and in the process to get to the other side. 🌈

Even wasted time we feel now was well spent because we learned the lesson to never go there again. And now we don’t have to painfully back track and re-learn the same lesson.

And all of us are walking examples of lessons learned.

We can keep going, getting inspired daily, and FEELing-thinking our way to our thanksgiving.

Holidays like Thanksgiving are welcomed reminders that give us reason to be thankful.

…And to say “thank you” more often.

Focus on “you.”

See yourself through others.

And practice old-fashioned manners and simple Thanksgiving sayings like please that never gets old and goes a long way.

Malt Loaf to One Bowl Molasses Cake

Malt loaf bread is comfy country bread that I could eat regularly as in weekly. It’s hearty, comfort food like a raisin bread. And this similar molasses cake (yes, you heard right!) recipe needs no proofing.

Learn more below 👇

malt loaf with early grey tea. — Recipe below 🧡

Molasses is one of the star ingredients in this loaf or cake (depending on how you want to look at it) and one of my favorite sweet ingredients. ⭐️

Watching the slow as molasses dark glossy liquid glide down the jar to the opening is joyful.

And when it does and makes contact with its destination, it comes with multi-dimensional tastes.

…I like to call it dark caramel and one that Grandma’s from the south grew up with. (That’s also the common household molasses brand most of us know).

It’s got the old-fashioned flavors mixed in…

Along with regular molasses comes a bit of sweet, bitter, and black licorice tastes that gives gingerbread cookies its distinct flavor.

The acidity in the ingredient also helps to activate the cake rise if you use a common household ingredient like baking soda (that’s usually stored in the fridge for other purposes).

Also, unlike white table sugar as a sweetener, amazingly molasses has anti-inflammatory effects. If you’re a food science nerd like me then you get excited about these nuances in daily sustenance that affect the body! 🎉 …and whether the ingredient will be used.

Not as common is blackstrap molasses that comes out after the third boiling, so most of the sugar has dissolved like Houdini. It has a lower glycemic index and polyphenols compared to regular molasses. PLUS it has minerals and Vitamin B-6.

With the dark flavor, the dark color matches.

It’s perfect for the cooler months and warming inside if you think of a warm fireplace playing jazzy tunes. 🎶

…And just in time for holiday baking season.

Malt loaf was a challenge on the The Great British Bake Off where I heard of the cakey bread.

And I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a cakey bread because that means no proofing, but is Prue-fitting, as in Judge Prue Leith who sent the loaf popularity waves across the pond… and into my sound waves vicinity.

…And what makes this loaf so out-of-the-ordinary great is the plumped up raisins from the Earl Grey tea.

It’s a strong brisk black tea that is what you expect for an afternoon high tea. 🫖

I had first heard of the intriguing “raisin plumping” idea in a food class where I collaborated with dieticians.

I loved the idea then… and loved it even more when I added them to this recipe.

You can see how bold and dramatic the raisins become. Who knew raisins could grow and not more wrinkly old? 😁

And to top off this breakfast dessert, you can add a glaze if you wanna shine! ✨

But I like the rustic and plain… like the simple raisin bread. But with bananas, this one is even BETTER.

Not needing butter.

And however you bake your cake or bread, you can make this in one bowl or even in the same baking pan it will end up in! That’s what happened here…

I mean, it doesn’t get much easier than this for fall foods, breads, and baked goods. That makes it so easy to FALL for! 🍂

You in? 😊

Easy Malt Loaf Cake

A moist malt loaf that has molasses as a star ingredient.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy LIfe Secrets

Ingredients

1 tbsp Early Grey tea, brewed
1 tbsp raisins (plumped up from tea)
1/3 cup currants, chopped dates, or additional raisins
1 cup mashed bananas
1 tbsp coconut oil (in addition to coating the pan)
1/3 cup molasses
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup almond milk or milk of choice or more
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour of choice
walnuts, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Coat your baking vessel with coconut oil that helps to give a nice thin outer crust and help prevent sticking to the pan. If you prefer less crust, then you can use a light dusting of flour to coat your pan or use a non-stick baking spray.
Brew hot tea and add raisins to the tea. While you're waiting for the tea to steep and raisins to plump up, make the loaf.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Easy tip: you can do this in one bowl and even the same baking pan/vessel that you will use to bake the loaf! This is/should be a very liquid-y batter (like pancake) depending on the flour(s) you use tthat will come out moist. Bake on 350°F for 65-80 minutes until outside is the brown color preferred.

Mint Chocolate Biscuit – No Bake Easy

Mint chocolate biscuit is one of my happy cookie memories. They were the Girl Scout Cookies that I grew up with. And Thin Mints were my favorite… Hands down (and up)! 🙌

I’ll show how you can get similar tastes below that I made in my weekday NO-bake kitchen tent…

Where I have all the ingredients. And I laugh when people say peppermint flavors “taste like toothpaste.”

…Like I did watching The Great British Bake Off where one of the contestants said that on Biscuit Week where a peppermint chocolate technical biscuit challenge was presented on the gingham table under the tent. 🎪

…And if you agree and a Girl Scout Samoa cookie is more your taste, then you might like this energizing and healthy Chocolate Coconut Bar.

BUT, if you’re okay with Thin Mints or peppermint is your chocolate vibe… what makes the mint chocolate biscuit cookie so enticing is that it melts in your mouth with a magically good crunch.

And if you leave them in their sleek cellophane sleeve in the freezer for a few hours, the crunch is even more pronounced.

Inspired by them, I made my own cluster of chocolate peppermint treats.

They look a wee-bit like chocolate popcorn, yes?… but you’ll never guess what they are made of…

It’s NOT popcorn… they’re oyster crackers.

Yep, the kind you buy from the soup aisle in the grocery store or that is served with a bowl of restaurant soup.

This bowl was a homemade oyster seafood broth that looks like it’s adorned with a strand of classy oyster (cracker) pearls 🦪

Before you laugh at or dismiss the sweet biscuit idea, consider it as a snack…

Rather than a salty or Saltine one, you get a sweet bite that satisfies your sugary hankerin’. 😋

If you like a crunchy biscuit, and the chocolate-mint flavor pairing duo, then this simple way could do the trick.

And if you’re like me and appreciate a perfect cookie shape but prefer to spend your time on other baking or non-kitchen projects, then these bites are time-savers when you look at it that way.

And they don’t have the long list of processed ingredients you find in packaged goods (that aren’t simple crackers).

These will get gobbled up too… before Thanksgiving. 🦃

And without guilt… I mean, have you ever made something too good you didn’t want eat it or give it away? I know you have and I know I have.

But these you don’t have to think twice about because you can make plenty of these in no time like a Keebler elf.

…Remember, they’re NO BAKE so there’s no oven wait.

So you can make these in minutes, and maybe seconds… ⏲️

And Voila! you have a low-fat, low-calorie tasty chocolaty snack.

You can also add these to your EASY snack list for road trips, hikes, and lunch bags.

Recipe below. 🧡

And if you’re still on the idea fence… these cracker snacks are light compared to buttery baked goods, so they won’t weigh you down.

Saltine cracker ingredients are simple: unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour enriched with thiamine, niacin and riboflavin B-vitamins), palm/canola oil, salt, malted barley flour, baking soda, and yeast.

…That’s pretty much the same type of healthy-style bread baking ingredients that you’d use if you were baking healthy at home.

Many store bought crackers use a ‘lil oil for the fat and in moderation that’s all good. And for the chocolate you can melt with a coconut oil healthy fat that gives a nice glossy shine.

This mint chocolate biscuit recipe uses a healthy no-taste coconut oil that doesn’t compete with mint. More on that below. Keep reading…

And so mint is the flavor we want to be the star. 💫

Plus, peppermint is calming…

If you have a tummy ache, reaching for a peppermint tea is good to have in your food-as-medicine pantry cabinet.

Peppermint relaxes the muscles along the gut that runs from your mouth roof top all the way to your bottom.

It’s your GI tract but I like to say gut as I think it gets to the heart of the matter, as it helps our happiness (where most of the happy hormones are made in the gut).

…And maybe that’s why we consult our gut for answers… often asking what does our gut say? 😁

And along those lines, peppermint food and drinks are good for our Vata and Pitta sides because we’re getting warmed and cooled by the menthol effects.

That also helps us blend in better with these climate change days.

Plus, peppermint always give the holiday vibes that warms the spirit and gives us a pep in our steps…

A peppermint cocoa blend moves into artisanal drink territory.

It’s NO B-E-a-k-e.

…Just like these easy, No FAFF biscuits (as they would say in the GBBO tent). 🎪

And the contestants would love this as a challenge where they can skip the shortbread dough step, subtract baking, and head straight to the tempered chocolate stage. 😉

These are made with low-salt Saltines.

And decorated with peppermint candy canes (that were saved from last holiday season for this very special purpose of getting hammer-crushed one warm day).

I also made one with a sandwiched mint cream reminiscent of Grasshopper cookies that mysteriously hopped away.

And if you wanted to use animal crackers, that would be fun. Elephants, bears, and tigers… OH MY! 🐘🧸🐯

…Or go more classic with round crackers reminiscent of Thin Mints.

And brings us back full circle! 🟢

The point is: these will work on any plain cracker (how smart!)… and you’re guaranteed a crunch (unless you dunk them in your drink or soup).

…then you’d have a soggy bottom issue that we learned is no good 😕 from The Great British Bake Off.

And we don’t want to get on the bad side of Judges Paul or Prue.

The Great British Bake Off is all about whimsical baking antics and creative baking. — This is my graphical representation of the GBBO show 🍰

…Especially since we won’t be baking this time.

Melting the chocolate right is the best way to stay in their good graces… and get a decent peppermint flavor that comes through.

So for these chocolate mint biscuit crackers, I used MCT oil because it’s coconut oil without the coconut taste… brilliant!

MCT stands for medium chain triglycerides that help weight management and burning body fat.

MCT oil is often used for optimizing ketone energy (and not for making biscuits 😊). If you’re fasting, you can prolong your fast with MCT oil without feeling zapped of energy.

MCT oil is also good for health and inflammation prevention. We know that chronic inflammation leads to the chronic diseases that are still the #1 causes for mortality.

And if you like what you’re hearing (and get curiously hooked), this is a healthy habit you can habit stack with your coffee or fasting routine.

🎉 So here we go: these are the 4-easy ingredients that will bring the simple mint chocolate biscuit cracker recipe together.

Peppermint Chocolate Biscuits

These are No-bake and recipe is enough to make a dozen 2" size biscuits like square Saltines that can be enjoyed year-round and spruced up for the holidays.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

12 Saltines (low-salt or animal crackers)
1 tsp MCT oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 tsp peppermint oil
peppermint candy (optional)

Instructions

Melt the chocolate with oil and peppermint oil. It will take about 5 minutes with warm-hot water (not boiling hot) with spoon stirring. You can see how to best melt chocolate: https://healthyhappylifesecrets.com/recipes/best-way-to-melt-chocolate-coconut-oil/
Dip the crackers front and back in the chocolate mixture while warm. Set them side-by-side flat on a tray.
Zhugh with crushed peppermint (optional)
Refrigerate or cool the tray.
Enjoy!

Fall Pizzas Recipe – Easy to Fall For

Fall pizzas are easy to fall for because you can use almost any type of flour to make a thin crust. You can love the crust and pizza! 😋

Pizza is the perfect comfort food for a cozy fall meal and all year round. And they can be made healthy!

Unlike bread making that needs a higher protein or gluten flour 🍞 for a higher rise, a pizza crust can work well for gluten-free people too. You don’t always need to use bread or 00 flour.

Especially flat bread pizzas that are more like cracker crusts, where the toppings are the stars.

You can use your healthy gluten-free flours like rice flour to produce a no-rise rice cracker-like crust (recipe below 🧡) .

Goes to show you, you can make a nice crust from just about anything. 😀… maybe not sawdust, but you know where I’m going.

That confidence came from practicing and making pizzas as one of my first loves (and from my professional food service work journey).

I worked in a busy pizza shop as a teen. That’s a throw back to when we sported our baseball caps that was part of our work uniform that we called our clown suits.

And us clowns banded together, so we were used to our daily attire 🤡

Who knew caps would become such popular wear?

And maybe that’s why I still like to sport a baseball cap when I’m baking or near the kitchen.

Decades later still sporting a baseball cap for pizza 🍕

Those pizza making shop days were so much FUN and I ended up staying on there for 4 years before I was rushed off to college.

The shop was like a second home to me before then. During fall football season 🏈, we were busy pizza making bees lined up on the make line. 🐝 🐝 🐝

And as busy bee pizza makers, we were not watching any TV.

We worked as a team under fun pressure to crank out pizzas as fast as we could… 30 minutes fast to be precise… that was the expectation from order taking to door delivery.

So that boiled down to about one-and-a-half minutes to make and prep each pizza from dough to toppings, and then into the magical baking oven.

That reminds me of an I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode ❤️

But we weren’t in a losing game most of the time… occasionally, when the line was backed up or an oven broke down, production came to a halt… it was people (and not machine production run) so we didn’t have to scarf down pizza ingredients to keep up.

…We just chilled out during those times.

And when back on track, our heads were down during the rush (that often was during a football rush). But if you weren’t a pizza ingredient or pizza-in-the-making in front of our eyes, we didn’t have time to look up.

Translated: if Kelce proposed to Taylor Swift on the field or they came into our shop, those moments would be missed.

…Our fall pizzas took priority no matter what.

And was worth it because making pizzas was a one-of-a-kind experience. Those franchise booming years were a recorded phenomenon…

It was history in the making as business college text books I read even had case studies on the 30-minute guarantee I knew firsthand.

And in the shop organized chaos hoopla, while breathing in pizzas, I learned the trick to consistent pizza crusts.

The shop dough would rest in the cold walk-in cooler overnight and get hand sprayed with water to keep from drying out.

It was such a critically important job that only the managers who were the kings of the shop made sure to treat the dough like babies.

They gave the dough some TLC and the proper rest needed that dough babies need to rise on game day.

And when game time was ON, the dough slapper would crank out dough crust, one after another with quick speed, tossing them in the air like frisbee footballs to the next team member…

Sometimes I was the receiver. And that’s where my play was.

If you were assigned the next role, you could catch the frisbee-shaped dough with your two fists and knuckles. Then you would flip out the dough on a pizza screen so they would lay flat and taut without wrinkles.

There’s a lot of dough gymnastic action going on. 🤸‍♀️

Or they were already set on a screen as the dough slapper’s choice. You could say they’re the Quarterbacks calling the plays.

And then after center screen placement, the pizza sauce is added. That’s a 10-second or so second position, that I was told was the second most important position too.

There’s no dilly-dally time to waste during the busy hours.

Saucing takes a little smooth surfing action 🏄 to evenly spread the sauce… stopping right at the crust like a professional skier at the bottom of a hill. ⛷️

During the slow hours, saucing was a skill that I got to learn, perfect, and throw the ladle in the sauce bucket without it splashing to show I was “a professional”… and I wish I could say that skill has paid off as a useful one, but all I can say is it was FUN. 😀

And today, that’s still the sauce technique I use at home under no pressure where all I do is imperfectly slow bake and prep.

And in that spirit, you can bake your own sporty no-stress pizza at home in about 35 minutes (and in less time than it takes to order out).

Once you know the basics you can apply this to any type of healthy pizza, fall pizza recipe, or crust style that fits your fancy.

Pizza Making 101

You need 4 ingredients for pizza: flour, salt, water, and yeast.

Sound familiar…maybe?

It’s the same 4 ingredients you need for bread making.

(Tip: try using semolina flour for your bench flour underneath your pizza for a nice crunch and to make your pizza experience special compared to bread making).

Semolina flour good for pizza bottoms feel like coarser desert sand and is more uniform than sugar or salt. It’s not fine like most all-purpose flours like we used in the shop.

Here’s how you can make homemade pizza step-by-step.

My all-time favorite is a mushroom Neapolitan Recipe where you don’t need any fancy pizza or wood-fired oven, but you do need an oven.

To prove the point, this pizza was made in an apartment oven.

Other simple tips for fall pizzas include skipping the brown charring of the crust. Regular baked crusts are even easier to make.

Those are like the regular crusts we had in the pizza shop or when you order a pizza.

…where you simply mix the 4 ingredients, knead the dough, let the dough proof for a couple hours, shape and flatten the dough except for the crust, and then bake on 350°F for about 20 minutes.

From there, I then add the toppings that are already pre-cooked. I do that part separately as different toppings need different cook times in a regular oven. And from bake start to finish, a pizza is done in 30-35 golden minutes. That’s still a magical number today.

In the pizza shop ovens, we always added the uncooked flat meats and veggies first, and then the lumpy items.

They were timed to perfection because through the conveyor belt, the heat was distributed specifically for the needs of pizzas. They only needed 8-10 minutes of baking time.

In the shop, they also weren’t experimenting with new toppings. But they did have pre-made thin crusts (like a cracker crust) and pan pizza crusts that were baked in different ovens.

But the regular crust was the one that most people loved…

Like I did with this sea creature pizza 🦑..which btw, you don’t have to be Jacques Cousteau adventurous to come up with your own unusual creations… like squid here that has a tougher texture.

And if you’re a more traditional pizza fan, I GET it… I used to hate anchovies and now I love ’em.

And besides traditional mushrooms that I’ve always loved, onions make for great toppings on traditional fall pizzas.

Onions (and mushrooms 🍄) are great for boosting your immunity during cold and flu season. Red onions are more mild tasting than Vidalia or white onions. 🧅 And you mix and match.

In the spirit of veggie fall pizzas, you can have fun with your rings.

You can also make a very healthy eating pizza category. And add that to your meal planning list.

…Like this healthy rice cracker recipe that you can be made into a rustic low-carb calorie pizza.

For more savory and simple delicious ideas, you could add za’atar spices to your fall pizzas… or use za’atar crackers.

What else can you pizza dream up?

Rice Crackers

Rice crackers are versatile. You can eat them by themselves or make a pizza crust with them.

Course Snack

Cuisine American, asian

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup water plus additional water (about 1 tbsp)
1 tsp ground sea salt
Everything Bagel spice (garlic, seeds)

Instructions

Mix flour and water into a paste. Add salt.
Sprinkle Everything Bagel spice evenly on top.
Bake in low heat oven (about 250°F) for about 25 minutes or until crispy texture desired.

Wheat Crackers For Fall Vata Season

Wheat crackers are so easy to make and a nice fall backdrop to decorate a food table.🍁

It’s a perfect rustic add. And if you’re feeling the pinch of shinkflation, these crackers can certainly help your wallet.

…Or baking any of your own salty cracker snacks (as low-calorie carb choice meal accompaniments).

They’re an easy baking challenge. ⏲️

You game?

…And even easier when you’re already cranking up your oven.

I do this baking move while I’m prepping my 350°F bakes, that are mostly rising cakes and breads… and anything that’s needing dry heat.

To start, I turn the oven on a low 250°F or lower. That also works well on warm days where you can feel the heat in whatever season you’re experiencing. 🔥

And while the oven is warming up, is when I bake the crackers, tortillas, or toast depending on season or mood. It’s a good use of oven energy. ⚡️

And also baking effort… where prepping cracker paste for a sheet of crackers takes seconds.

All you need is an even flour-water mix, and then spread with a little balancing salt on a baking sheet.

That’s it.

…It doesn’t get easier than that for the basics.

But I have some useful tips below with ancient flours that can enhance your wheat crackers, and making-baking experience.

Plus there are so many flour varieties and cracker taste options to consider and get into for your happy wild-free self… maybe Wild Thing or Wheel Pose. Just sayin! 🎡

You can use any ground flour for cracker making which is a great way to clean out your pantry. You can ground your own gluten-free and seed versions. Grounds reminds me of coffee since I make my own cold brew daily. 💭

And like coffee, if you add anything else as ingredients besides your grounds, water, and flavor adds or seasonings to your cracker mix, then you’ve prepped another food… but not crackers.

K.I.S.S. (keep it super simple). 💋

…that means no oil or yeast as tempting as it can be.

The essence of crackers is dry, salty, and flat crunchy. That’s why it’s a good Vata season balancing snack.

Great for anyone in fall season or leaning into their Vata body.

For me, that’s a double score. 🧘🏻‍♀️…maybe you too?

…I didn’t make up these rules 😊

The ancient people were the inventors.

Flat breads still exist as precursors to our modern day crackers.

(See Ezekiel 4:9 in the Bible that mentions several grain flours for baking bread: “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself…”).

And fast forwarding to today, the flour is still the star ingredient for bread and crackers.

…So, choosing a healthy flour is a smart choice.

Making homemade crackers is a good opportunity to use your healthy gluten-free flours and whole flours like whole wheat.

Whole grains rule because they keeps the entire kernel that has all the nutrients like extra B-vitamins that refined grains do not have.

Refined grains are also deprived of fiber that’s not added back even if the grain is enriched.

Keeping it simple, remember the fine print “whole” as a top ingredient when you’re looking through the shelves deciding which is the healthy good choice, all things being equal.

Whole is also a good intention for all us healthy intentional peeps to eliminate holes in our diet.

Some of the whole goodness comes in gluten flours (yes, gluten!) that can be used to make wheat crackers.

Whole wheat grain flours have more fiber, so if you can eat gluten it’s good to keep some higher quality whole wheat in your diet.

And ancient wheats like Einkorn, spelt, and emmer are good choices.

Einkorn has less gluten than the other two so it makes for a great cracker that doesn’t need proofing.

The proof is in the cracker recipe below. 🧡

…You can add your flavor touches and textures like chia seeds or Everything Bagel spices for crunch and vitamins.

Btw, chia seeds are loaded with some B-vitamins, magnesium, calcium, iron, and other minerals.

Chia vary from poppy seeds even though they look like twins and are both carbs. 👯‍♀️

…And when I hear people say that they don’t eat carbs, that saddens me.

Carbs include veggies AND also healthy grains that don’t wanna be missed. Veggies are usually low calories in case those points are added up.

And next to protein, grains support the body in B-vitamins that we need a lot of to work together.

They also help to lose weight along with fiber. 🎉

So if healthy eating is one of your goals too (and a good one since you’re eating for the rest of your life), building good habits that keep your weight the same or consistent year-round makes sense.

A rainbow variety diet with food as medicine works. 🌈

Yo-yo diets that I grew up around don’t support that.

And eating food like rustic wheat crackers can fill the gaps.

Since fresh baked are not preserved (with preservatives) like the crackers you could buy in grocery stores, they will change texture over time and days.

It’s best to enjoy them the same or next day after baking (and that helps to get us to bake or cook more, if that’s another goal initiative you’re trying to make).

You can leave your baked crackers out for a few more days but they will likely become more dry.

So you could add a little olive oil or keep a moist towel over them.

You can also bag and seal them when they’re still warm out of the oven and that will create some heat-rising condensation in the bag that will help them stay hydrated… a little cracker TLC. 😀

…Wheat is plant-based afterall 🪴

And if they dry out, you can still save and revive them.

You can add a little water back and let them dry out for a few hours and then enjoy again. Then they’re as good as new again!

The wheat cracker taste factor will be the same because remember water is the next inherent star ingredient. ⭐️

How’s that for fall-ing in love with wheat crackers?

Wheat Crackers

Wheat crackers are so easy to make. You can make them and bake with your other bakes.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

whole wheat flour and einkorn flour
seeds (flax, chia, or sunflower)
salt to taste
water

Instructions

Mix ingredients until you get a paste. Spoon out dough and make about 1/8" thin wit a knife. If you use more flour, you can alternatively roll out into a thin even paste. It will come out the same as a cracker.